Jason Dunstall speech spurred Hawthorn on

A pre-September motivational speech by club great Jason Dunstall helped to provide the springboard for Hawthorn's surge to back-to-back premierships.

As the Hawks celebrated a 63-point mauling of Sydney in the grand final on Saturday, having edged Fremantle last year, it emerged Dunstall had spoken during a video compilation on the eve of the finals about what it would mean to enjoy successful flags, having enjoyed that feeling in the dominant Hawks' sides of 1988-89.

Coach Alastair Clarkson said the prospect of back-to-back premierships had not been discussed through the season, but that had changed in recent weeks as he and the Hawks sought to build on their success of 2008 and of last season.

"You don't like to compare because all three are very, very special but I suppose given some of the circumstances, and even the circumstance of trying to go back-to-back in the current era, it's very difficult," he said.

"It's been done seldomly in the modern era. We are enormously proud of that. We didn't actually speak too much about that right throughout the course of the year. Our driving motivation was just to get ourselves back in finals contention and top four.

"It was only in the last two to three weeks that it became a reality that this is achievable. We had a guy as influential as Jason Dunstall who indicated to us how special it would be for our footy club and for this group of players to win back-to-back flags but that has only materialised in the last couple of weeks. That is the only time we have given it any thought."

Skipper Luke Hodge, a dual Norm Smith medallist, said Dunstall, also a former influential club director, had also broached the possibility of back-to-back flags after the Hawks had lost the 2012 grand final to the Swans.

"As players, you go back to 2012 and 'Bung' was the only person, it's hard in a losing room when everyone is down, but 'Bung' sat in there with all the boys, had a few beers with us, and pretty much joked around to make sure the mood got a bit better," Hodge said.

"He touched on it [back-to-back flags] ... he just mentioned what a fantastic achievement in front of us if we were able to do it."

Clarkson said the latest win in front of a heaving crowd of 99,454, was a testament to the club's preparation. "The result didn't come as a surprise to us. I don't mean to say that in an arrogant fashion because we prepared so well. Even to the point of Cyril [Rioli] being able to play," he said.

"We were fully confident that would be the case. Sure, it was a risk but our conditioning staff and medical staff and Cyril himself had done a lot of work and he made an important contribution. That was just reflective of the club of what it has done to get ready for grand final day."

The Hawks secured their third flag in seven years and their 12th overall largely through a dominant first half where the Swans were strangled by a galvanised and committed opponent.

The Hawks jumped to a 20-point lead by quarter-time and the contest appeared all but over by the main break when that advantage had skipped to seven goals.

After Lance Franklin booted the Swans' second goal at the 14-minute mark of the first term, the Hawks replied with nine of the next 10 goals, a procession that would end only at the 19-minute mark of the second term.

Hodge, vice-captain Jordan Lewis and former skipper Sam Mitchell were superb in establishing the Hawks dominance on the ball – their toughness matched only by their skill – while Brad Hill provided run and carry and Shaun Burgoyne the polish across half-back.

The Hawks had winners all over the field, with their commitment to tackling and overall pressure crunching an opponent which traditionally had relished the bruising side of the game.

While the Swans had the multimillion-dollar forward line, the Hawks had 10 goalkickers, with Jarryd Roughead contributing five.

Rioli, who had successfully overcome a hamstring injury in time to win back his spot for the grand final, literally had tears of joy in the final term when he was subbed off.

Clarkson said he knew Rioli was fit after watching him dunk a football into a basketball ring at training on Friday.

"I thought to myself that if he is prepared to dunk the footy, he is going to be OK," he said.

For Clarkson, the win means he joins club legends John Kennedy snr and Allan Jeans as having led the club to three premierships. The latest success also came in a year when he missed five matches mid-year because of Guillain-Barre syndrome, with fears at the time he would not coach again this year. Assistant coach Brendon Bolton took charge of the side during his absence.

"We had to confront a fair few challenges through the course of the year both as a playing group, in terms of he injury toll at stages, especially to key players, but also to the coaching group," Clarkson said.

"Just different challenges that we had to confront through the whole of the year, and to overcome them and get a victory on grand final day is a very special feeling for our footy club."

Hodge also praised his teammates and assistant coaches for "stepping up" when the likes of  Mitchell and Josh Gibson were hurt through the year and Clarkson was ill.